11/12/13 Wedding

Usually Tuesdays aren’t in high in demand when choosing a wedding date.

Except this year, when an estimated 3,000 couples across the nation will make their way down the aisle to say “I Do,” all in order to secure the iconic sequential 11/12/13 date for their nuptials.

“I had over 100 brides that registered for 11/12/13 to do their wedding,” Stacey Rywelski, general manager of David’s Bridal Manhattan flagship store, told GoodMorningAmerica.com. “It’s amazing, considering it’s a middle of the week date. When it’s on a Saturday it’s a given, but the middle of the week blows my mind.”

Despite being a Tuesday, today is one of the most highly anticipated wedding dates of the year, up a whopping 722 percent from the second Tuesday of November in 2012, according to a survey conducted by David’s Bridal.

“I think it’s a couple of reasons,” Rywelski said of the 40 percent of brides who consider planning their wedding on a special date. “Most often the brides say they’re into numbers, or having significant numbers in their life. Also it’s a cool date and they like how it looks on their invitations, or people wanted to have an easy date for the husband to remember the anniversary.”
We spoke to two different brides who are donning their white gowns to tie the knot on this oh-so-desired date, albeit in two completely different ways, all in order to accommodate the unconventional Tuesday.

Destination Wedding:
Many couples are using the mid-week date as a reason to plan a destination wedding. Rasheeda Tillman and Jamal Lawler, of Philadelphia, said they’re “very excited” about their “special date” in the Dominican Republic.
“We vacationed in Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic a few years ago,” said Lawler, 32. “We leave the country once or twice a year and that’s been the most memorable vacation. We always wanted to go back, so we figured what better time to go back than for our wedding?”

Tillman said she had always dreamed of a spring wedding, but admits she’s “weird with numbers,” and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to wed on the second to last sequential date of the century.

“When we picked that wedding date we didn’t care it was on a Tuesday,” she said. “If you’re away, it doesn’t matter. This worked out perfectly because going away, you get that perfect weather.”

As for their guests, “Everyone was excited,” said Lawler. “Everyone who’s coming has been around for the duration of our relationship and everyone was just as excited as we are about getting married. Not only are they getting a chance to go on vacation, but they’re also coming to be a part of our wedding.”

The happy couple has 45 guests attending their destination wedding, including Lawler’s father, who is officiating the ceremony and already has a personal connection with the Nov. 12 date.

“That’s his birthday,” Tillman explained. “It worked out perfectly.”

Courthouse Ceremony:

Joanna Ortiz and her new husband, Miguel Pozo, of Queens, N.Y., were so excited about the idea of having the iconic 11/12/13 wedding date, not even the inconvenience of a Tuesday would stop them from making their love official.
“We both took the day off, but it’s right back to work on Wednesday,” explained Ortiz, 32. “We liked the date so much we didn’t care. I loved the fact the numbers were going up, and the 11/12/13 date is more for us to do an intimate ceremony, and then we’ll do a big celebration later in June when it’s warmer and everybody can be there.”

Ortiz and Pozo began dating nine years ago. When they got engaged two months ago, Ortiz said they chose the rushed wedding date because they “fell in love with it.” Ortiz said the couple “didn’t care it was a Tuesday,” and they have “been together for so long, it’s like, ‘why wait?'”

They’re keeping their wedding ceremony today very small and intimate, with only their children, Ortiz’s sister and Pozo’s brother in attendance.

“I didn’t want to do a church thing and have my old grandparents out in the cold,” said Ortiz. “When it’s warmer, my grandmother can travel and it’s easier on her. But we really liked this date so we didn’t care about anything else.”
Wanting to get the marriage down in the books meant the world to Ortiz, who said “this is the date we’re going to be celebrating every year.”

“June,” she said, “is more for family purposes. But this is what is going to be in our hearts forever.”

And though this year’s iconic date is causing couples to come out in droves, there is no doubt next year’s unique date, 12/13/14, will take the cake for couples walking down the aisle.

“Next year will really blow things away because it’s on a Saturday,” Rywelski said of the very last sequential date of the century. “It’s going to break records.”